


The Voicemail

by SkywardGeek



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, I Don't Even Know, PTSD Tony Stark, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tony Feels, Tony Has Issues, Voicemail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-26 01:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1669892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkywardGeek/pseuds/SkywardGeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>wow was I stuck for a title (if you come up with a better one please leave it in the comments)</p>
<p>An Alternate Scenario: As Tony redirects the missile he tries desperately to reach Pepper, but he only gets her voicemail. His last moments are being used up fast, will he be able to say everything he wants to before getting swallowed by the abyss?</p>
<p>(It seems I suck at titles and synopsis, but actual stories are better)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Voicemail

“Sir, Shall I try Miss Potts?”  
“Might as well.”  
It was ringing. Ringing for an eternity in his limited time. Then finally-  
“You’ve reached Virginia Potts, unfortunately I can’t answer your call right now. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”

~~~Beep~~~

“Hey Pepper. It’s me. Just calling to say hey. I’m about to do something stupid, and there are a few things I’d like to… well… to ask of you. And to say to you.”  
Deep breath, Tony. Not long left, you have to make this count.  
“Look after Dummy for me.”  
Idiot. Precious seconds wasted.  
“I’m sorry for all the repair work Stark Tower will need, but it was your 12% that got damaged. I hope the press are easy to manage. You can handle it, right? Of course you can, you’ve dealt with me for years.”  
A sad smile played across his lips though his voice was catching in his throat. How could he ever express this? No words he knew seemed suitable, nothing could convey how strongly he felt.  
“Thank you. Really. I am so grateful that I had the chance to have you in my life.”  
His life would have been a nightmare without her, caught up in a booze driven haze, no sense of warmth or compassion or…  
“Pepper… my Pepper… I-”  
Is it better to say it? Is it better to leave it?  
“-I might be home late. Don’t wait up for me. Sorry but don’t wai-”  
No not now. There was so much more to say. The signal was lost, darkness encompassed him. He really should have said it. And now he’s alone. But focus. Mission. Release the missile. He could feel the armour losing power, feel himself sinking into blackness, falling down (or was it up? He was too lost in the other world to know). He kept his eyes open just long enough to capture his handiwork. Bright lights, bold heat, target had landed. A safer world for her, but one he would never see. For the better. She was safer without him. His heart was losing power. Tony felt overwhelmed, drowning in the darkness as the light of his reactor flickered off.  
“I love you, Pepper Potts.”

 

Pepper waited for him. Waited for days. Until the waiting hurt too much. It was all over the news. Iron Man had redirected a nuke into the worm hole. He had saved New York, saved America, saved the world. No account of him was too heroic. Too dramatic. Too over the top. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the reports. No one had anything negative to say about him, not one word. Except her.  
“You are an idiot Tony,” she spoke into the emptiness of their tower.  
“Only you would… only you would be selfish enough to leave me here. To leave me on my own… without you.”  
She let her tears fall, there was little else to do. The world had grieved and moved on, mere hours was all it took to forget the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. It would take so much longer for Pepper to move on from the heart and soul of the mad genius who blew up their house so many times, who half destroyed the newly built tower. The insane mechanic who barely slept, choosing instead to build his suits. She replayed that voice mail over and over.  
“I am so grateful that I had the chance to have you in my life.”  
JARVIS played it over the speaker system. It felt like a comfort and a drug, something slowly driving her insane. The past tense, the ‘had a chance’. He knew he wouldn’t make it back to her.  
“Look after Dummy for me.”  
His voice resounded around the house. How dare he spend his last few moments worrying about his mechanical arm! If only she had heard her phone. If only she had gotten to it in time.  
“Tony Stark, I love you. Stupid genius.”  
“That’s one way to tell someone you love them.”  
Pepper jumped up with a start. There he was, lacking his arrogance and ego, but still it was her Tony stood in the balcony doorway, battered suit still wrapped around his body. He was clutching at the face plate, tapping his fingers against it in a fast paced rhythm.  
“Don’t be mad, okay? I will formally apologise-”  
“No but I am mad, I am mad, Tony.”  
Pepper ran forward, pulling Tony towards her. She grabbed the face plate and tossed it aside with a clatter. She placed her hands on his cheeks, feeling each bump of newly healed scars beneath her fingers. Pulling him down, she kissed him long and lovingly. Resting her forehead against his, her voice raised no higher than a whisper, gentle and soft.  
“I am so mad. Where have you been?”  
Tears streamed down her face, a river that would not ebb away. Tony removed the armour from his hand and gently wiped them away. His voice wavered, lacking its usual strength and confidence.  
“I… I was in medical care. SHIELD. They wouldn’t let me out, they wouldn’t let me contact you. I… I-“  
Tony’s hands began twitching. He swallowed with great difficulty and continued.  
“The… I almost… The reactor lost power and I… Then I am on the ground. The Hulk roaring at me. We let Thor take Loki back to Asgard. We went and got Shawarma. It was delicious, we should get it some time. In fact I’ll go order some now. Unless you would rather have pizza, or Thai food or-“  
Tony’s words became a fast stream of gibberish, reeling off various foods and restaurants that he could get to deliver. Pepper touched his bare arm gently, not shifting her gaze from Tony’s eyes.  
“Tony, we can have whatever food you like. What happened after the Shawarma?”  
Tony broke the stare, looking down, left, right, anywhere but Pepper’s eyes.  
“I passed out in the restaurant. SHIELD medical team took me, and I wasn’t allowed out for- how many days has it been? -well I wasn’t allowed out since the… Since New York.”  
Pepper took his shaking hand, entwined his unsteady fingers in hers and pulled him inside. Leading, guiding the broken man. He had never seemed so small and unsure of himself. The armour fell away from him as he walked, landing with a heavy thud. Up the stairs she got him settled into bed, pulling him close as the lights dimmed.  
“It’s okay Tony, it’s okay. You’re safe now, we’re safe here. Try and relax now.”  
Her voice served as a constant soothing reminder that Tony was home. Not the darkness, not the medical rooms, but tucked into bed with his Pepper.

 

The notion of safety did not last long. Scared to close his eyes, scared of the all-consuming darkness that swallows him whole. He couldn’t stay in this tower, they couldn’t. Too close to it all. The gateway to hell was just above their heads waiting to drag him back. He cracked his knuckles and carefully slid out of bed. Tinkering with his suit, drinking far too much coffee, trying desperately to stay awake. You know. Just in case. Anything, aliens, Gods, spaceships, wizards. The unexpected needed to become expected. He needed to protect the one thing he cannot live without, the only thing he ever really cared about. He could hear footsteps in the apartment, shadows falling across his. He donned a Repulsor and shot at the approaching entity. It took the form of a Chitauri minion, but the pulse of energy went straight through the translucent figure, shattering a window. A hallucination. Just a trick of the mind. Nothing more. A blink and it was gone. He may have fallen from the worm hole but he never left the abyss.


End file.
